the use of rotary pulpectomy and zirconia crowns in primary teeth

Introduction

Premature loss of primary molars can cause a number of undesirable consequences including loss of arch length, insufficient space for erupting premolars and mesial tipping of the permanent molars. Pulpectomy of primary molar teeth is considered as a reasonable treatment approach to ensure either normal shedding or a long-term survival in instances of retention. Despite being a more conservative treatment option than extraction, efficient pulpectomy of bizarre and tortuous root canals encased in roots programmed for physiologic resorption that show close proximity to developing permanent tooth buds presents a critical endodontic challenge especially during canal preparation, which is considered one of the most important steps in root canal therapy.

The conventional instrumentation technique for primary teeth remains the “gold-standard” over hand instrumentation, which makes procedures much more time consuming and adversely affects both clinicians and patients. Recently nickel–titanium (Ni–Ti) rotary files have been developed for use in pediatric endodontics. Using rotary instruments for primary tooth pulpectomies is cost effective and results in fills that are consistently uniform and predictable.

Not only does instrumentation of primary teeth root canals present a challenge to the clinician, but also coronal restoration of decayed teeth after pulp therapy is considered difficult and as a result, many clinicians tend to forego esthetic considerations when full-coverage restorations are indicated for pediatric patients with primary dentitions. However, the availability of new zirconia pediatric crowns and reliable techniques for cementation makes esthetic outcomes practical and consistent when restoring primary dentition.

Intended Learning Objectives

Demonstrating the strategies of deep caries management and different types of coronal restorations.

Presenting different tips and tricks of single visit pulpectomy in primary molars.

Familiarizing the participants with the updates on biomaterials used in pulpotomy and pulpectomy in primary molars.

Expand the participants’ knowledge regarding different types of zirconia crowns and their advantages and disadvantages.